"All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination."
Article 7 of Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Ethiopia: Journalists Live in Fear of 'Terror' Law

Ethiopia: Journalists Live in Fear of 'Terror' Law

By Charlayne Hunter-Gault, 19 June 2012

guest column

Nowhere across Africa is the message that its people want a way out of what I call "the four Ds" - death, disease, disaster and despair - more resounding than among the continent's journalists.

In nation after nation, they are attempting to inform their people of their rights and encourage them to hold their governments accountable. For that, many of them are being held accountable in the most draconian ways.

I have seen this first hand in Zimbabwe, where Robert Mugabe's regime has long attempted to conceal the repression of its people. Journalists have fought back and continue to yell truth to power, although they still face the prospect of jail as a consequence.

And most recently, I have seen it in Ethiopia, where Eskinder Nega, a journalist I visited seven years ago in Kalati Prison, along with his pregnant wife, Serkalem Fasil (who gave birth in prison) is back there on charges of terrorism. What appears to have been his crime is that he also continues to tell, if not yell, truth to power, although the government is actually prosecuting him for what they say is his membership in a terrorist network that advocates violence. As proof, during his trial they showed a video in which he questioned whether an Arab Spring-type uprising could ever happen in Ethiopia.

The government has empowered itself to prosecute what they see as dissent like this with a sweeping anti-terrorism law that is, effectively, a weapon that can be used against anyone daring to criticize the government in a way the government doesn't like.

One journalist who published Eskinder's statement in court was also convicted, but got a suspended four-month sentence. Dozens of journalists have fled into exile and six have been charged with terrorism in absentia, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

When I visited Ethiopia earlier this month with a colleague from the CPJ and the continent-wide project called the African Media Initiative, journalists we met with told us they all live in fear, calling the terrorism law a "game changer." One foreigner working in Ethiopia told me: "There is a red line. The problem is, we don't know where it is."

When we met Simon Bereket, Ethiopia's Minister of Information, he defended the incarceration of Eskinder and the seven other journalists locked up with him on the grounds that they were involved in terrorism. In a polite but firm dissent, he said neither Eskinder nor any of the other journalists were in prison for what they wrote.

When we asked to see Eskinder and the others in prison, we were told that it was not likely and that turned out to be the case. But his wife, Serkalem, who was recently in New York receiving on Eskinder's behalf a prestigious freedom of the press award from PEN America, told us when we met her in Addis that Eskinder had asked her to tell us that he was in no way connected with any terrorist group-there or in the United States.

She also told us that he said that if the price of telling the truth was imprisonment, he could live with that. Of course, when the verdict is handed down - which is scheduled to happen Thursday - Eskinder could be sentenced to life in prison or death.

Part of the reason for my involvement with journalists and their issues in Ethiopia and other parts of the continent is to try to present a much-maligned continent in a light different to that in which it is often portrayed elsewhere in the world: in a light that makes it clear that Africans want as much as anyone else to make choices about themselves and their children in an informed way, and that they have the same hopes and aspirations for themselves, their families and their communities as do people in democracies the world over.

Imperfect as many democracies are, their governments do not put people in jail for words that come out of their mouths and the freedom-loving desires that live in their hearts. That's why, as an American, I hope that my countrymen and women who have that right should get on Ethiopia's case. They should insist that a U.S. government which is pledged to ensure those rights in America should also help ensure them in Ethiopia. And I hope they will be joined by freedom-loving people all over the world, including on the African continent.

But Ethiopia stands as a partner with the United States, in particular, in fighting REAL terrorists, including Al Qaeda, in a strategic part of the world. Surely the economic assistance the U.S. has provided Ethiopia in the past and the $350 million in assistance it is asking for in 2013 gives it some weight in pressing Addis Ababa to live up to the same principles enshrined in their constitution as in ours?

Freedom of speech is a crucial cornerstone of democracy. It should not be a death sentence.

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Ethiopian immigrants protest prime minister (Seattlepi)

Ethiopian Oromo immigrants protest against Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi on Friday, May 18, 2012 in downtown Seattle. Human rights groups allege that Zenawi's government has shown discrimination against and repression of the Oromo people. In April, Oromo worshipers were killed at a mosque in Ethiopia by security forces loyal to the prime minister. The killings have sparked protest and outrage in the Ethiopian community. Photo: JOSHUA TRUJILLO / SEATTLEPI.COM

Breaking News: Source Alleges Group-7 in Canada to Lay the Groundwork for Takeover of OSFNA by Ethiopian Sports Federation (Gadaa.com)

According to EthioMedia, a delegate of Group-7 (the recently created "new OLF") will hold a meeting with its Ethiopian fans in the capital city of Canada, Ottawa, over the weekend (May 5, 2012).

Part of the mission of the delegation of Group-7 to Ottawa, Canada, according to an unconfirmed source from Toronto, is to lay the groundwork for the takeover of the Oromo Sports Federation in North America (OSFNA) by an Ethiopian Sports Federation. According to this source, OSFNA had been deliberately weakened and made irrelevant over the last three years - attracting less and less number of people each year - as "part and parcel" of the ultimate takeover of OSFNA by an Ethiopian Sports Federation. Read More

Monday, April 30, 2012

A three days campaign to bring awareness about land grabbing and human rights violation in Oromia and Ethiopia conducted from 26-28th of April 2012 in Brussels and Antwerp, Belgium was a success.

A Three Days Campaign to bring the Consequences of Land Grabbing and Human Rights Violations in Oromia and Ethiopia to the Attention of the European Union (EU)

Brussels and Antwerp, Belgium, 26-28 April 2012

The three days campaign, conducted in the cities of Brussels and Antwerp by members of Oromo communities in Europe, started on the 26th of April 2012 with a visit made by the Organizing Committee’s delegates consisting of Mr. Mulugeta Mossissa from the Netherland, Professor Mekuria Bulcha from Sweden, Mr. Tesfaye Metta from Belgium and Dr Alemayehu Kumsa from Czech Republic to the European Parliament. The delegates were received by Mr. Marc Jütten, Advisor for External Policies in the Cabinet of the President of the European Parliament, on behalf of the President Mr. Martin Schulz. During the meeting which lasted for an hour the delegates informed Mr. Jütten about the human rights violations in Ethiopia in general and Oromia in particular. The discussions with Mr. Jütten covered various aspects of human rights violations in Ethiopia with a focus on the large-scale land lease to local and international commercial farmers, the eviction of Oromo farmers from their homes and farmlands, and the situation of Oromo refugees in the Horn of Africa and Yemen.

The delegates also pointed out that the EU’s financial aid and political support to the Ethiopian government is contributing to the suffering of the Oromo and other peoples in Ethiopia rather than economic development, peace and regional stability. Mr. Jütten promised to deliver the concern of the delegates to Mr. Martin Schulz and to raise the issue to other concerned authorities within the European Parliament.

Letters with similar contents were also delivered to the President of European Council Mr. Van Rompuy and to the President of the European Commission Mr. José Manuel Durão Barroso. Practical diplomatic actions are expected from both offices.

At a demonstration which was held on 27 April from 10:00 to 12:00 o’clock in front of the EU commission, many members of the Oromo communities from different European countries voiced their anger and protest against the ongoing massive land grabbing in Oromia and in the non-Abyssinian regions in Ethiopia, human rights violations, the conditions of Oromo political prisoners, and situation of Oromo refugees. The demonstrators also voiced their disappointment about the misuse of the EU AID by the Ethiopian government as a tool to oppress the Oromo and other peoples in Ethiopia.

On the third day, a comprehensive seminar was resumed in Antwerp at ACV Verbond Antwerpen‎ Nationalestrat 111. Four papers were presented on different themes by scholars and an advocate of human rights. Professor Mekuria Bulcha from Mälardalen University, Sweden, presented papers on two themes: the ‘Political and economic effects of Land grabbing in Oromia’, and ‘Overview of the Historical and Cultural Underpinnings of the Oromo Struggle for National Identity and independence’. And also a paper On Long-Term Effects of Land Grabbing on the Environment’ was also presented.

The human rights advocate and Chairman of the Oromo Support Group (OSG), Dr. Trevor Trueman also presented a well-documented overview of human rights violations in Oromia and Ethiopia and the situation of Oromo refugees in Djibouti and Somaliland.Each presentation was followed by lively debates and the active participation of the audience. The conference was concluded late Saturday evening at 9 o’clock. Participants of the events underlined that the three-day activities should be the beginning of the advocacy campaign on the issues of human rights, land grabbing, on the case of Oromo political prisoners in Ethiopia, and the situation of Oromo refugees at large. A call for future closer cooperation, unity, and action among all participants was made. The participants have also called all Oromos around the globe to follow suit and raise the issues of land grabbing, human rights violations, the plight of Oromo political prisoners, Oromo refugees, and inform the public at large.

Friday, April 06, 2012

The Recent 'Report' on the Washington Post about the OLF Has Nothing to Do with the OLF

The Recent 'Report' on the Washington Post about the OLF Has Nothing to Do with the OLF

OLF Press Release | April 6, 2012

The article by Emily Wax, The Washington Post reporter, under the title "As separatists in Ethiopia disarm, a new chapter for D.C.'s Oromo community" alleging laying down of arms and succumbing to the imposed unity of Ethiopia is inaccurate. Many Oromo nationals who got the chance to read that article have been airing their disapproval of the said report in every possible term.

The erroneous nature of the report emanates not only from the misrepresentation of the OLF goal and objective but also from the list of the people that appear in the report who are not currently in the membership list of the organization. It would not be that hard for a genuine report to be prepared about the OLF since the organization's office is listed in the Washington DC telephone directory with the right numbers and address, and the names of the officers thereof could be obtained from the Department of Justice. We regret that the reporter, probably misled by our opponents, opted to misrepresent our organization in such an embarrassing manner. We are also surprised that, despite our repeated request, the reporter failed to correct this violation of journalistic ethics. This one-sided report in The Washington Post, based on the distortion of the legitimate struggle of the Oromo people by negligible splinter group, has infuriated not only our members but also the Oromo people at large.

In this shocking video aired on the Ginbot-7-funded* ESAT Television, Qubee (Latin Alphabet), the usage of Afaan Oromoo for self-rule and Oromiyaa are presented as part of Fascism's plot to undermine, what the presenter calls, "Abyssinia's great place in the world." This is a preview of the grand plan that will be deployed to wipe out Oromummaa and Oromiyaa, for which countless heroes and heroines have died for and are struggling for to free from Abyssinian century-old colonization. With their grand plan to destroy the Oromo struggle underway, Oromo future generations will be indoctrinated in such ways to hate themselves: their identity, Oromummaa, and their country, Oromiyaa. Welcome to Ginbot-7's and Woyane's New Ethiopia.

It's to be remembered that the above presenter was criticized recently for his prejudice against Oromo while interviewing Dr. Trevor Trueman, Chairman of the Oromia Support Group (OSG), a non-political organization established to raise awareness about human rights abuses in Ethiopia - http://gadaa.com/oduu/12055/2011/12/26/esats-interview-of-osgs-dr-trueman-and...

When Ginbot-7 and its reactionary cohorts in the media were calling TPLF was a fascist, it had been naively thought they were referring to the brutality of the regime and its gross human rights violations, but they were actually referring to "Qubee/Latin, Usage of Afan Oromo for self-rule and Oromiyaa," which the ESAT video says are "parts of Fascism's plot to undermine Abyssinia."

To see the full video, http://youtu.be/4GTjFwNjZlA

* For link between Ginbot-7 and ESAT, see page 23 of this report: http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/160121.pdf

Sunday, March 11, 2012

The Effort to Emasculate the Oromo Liberation Struggle Has Been and Will Be a Failure (OLF/ ABO)

The Effort to Emasculate the Oromo Liberation Struggle Has Been and Will Be a Failure

March 10, 2012 (OLF) - The Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) regime has utterly failed to suppress the struggle wagedagainst it by the OLF and is engulfing the whole of Oromia. Neither did the effort of the supporters of the regime who wanted to cover up its brutalities make any dent. During the last six onths, especially the regime has been scuffling around under pressure from the OLF and the popular uprising in Oromia. The regime's attempts to recycle the twenty plus years old tactic of dismantling or weakening the OLF, in an effort to overcome this pressure, will get it nowhere but failure again.

The agreement (memorandum of understanding) signed between the Kingdom of Norway and the dictatorial government of Ethiopia on the 26th of January 2012 provides ground for involuntary repatriation of Oromo nationals who were denied protection or asylum in Norway.

Given the records of human rights abuses of the Ethiopian government and its harsh treatments of Oromo activists, we are strongly concerned for the safety and well-being of these asylum seekers especially in view of the fact that Oromo nationals who were forcefully deported from the neighboring countries in the past have been mistreated, imprisoned, tortured, disappeared, sentenced to death and some executed.

We have no doubt that if Oromo nationals who were denied protection or asylum in Norway (and who have been actively participated in Oromo affaires in Norway as member of Oromo Community, taking part in fundraisings and meetings in support of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) and staging demonstrations against Meles ... more

The Ethiopian army has been violently clashing with tribes, forcing many from their land [Dominic Brown/Al Jazeera]

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia - The Lower Omo Valley in south-western Ethiopia is a vast and rugged region of mountains and valleys, inhabited largely by nomadic agro-pastoralist tribes numbering some 200,000 people. Many live a simple existence, living in straw thatched huts and have little contact with the outside world. But the Ethiopian government's new found appetite for large-scale sugar production threatens the very existence of many of these tribes.

Nearly 300,000 hectares of land in the Omo and Mago National Parks, which comprises much of the Lower Omo Valley, has been earmarked for the Kuraz Sugar Development programme. Backed by large-scale investment from Indian companies, the programme aims to help increase overall sugar production in Ethiopia to 2.3 million tonnes by 2015, with the goal of achieving a 2.5 per cent global share by 2017.

Whilst revenues from the sugar plantations will undoubtedly fill the coffers of central government, the forced relocation of tribes from their traditional lands is already having catastrophic consequences. The permanent damage to a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site is also raising alarm amongst environmentalists.

"We stand to lose everything," one tribal leader explained, tears welling in his eyes, as he stood surrounded by his villagers. "Our traditional hunting grounds, the land we use for grazing our cattle, our homes. Everything will be gone. We will be left with nothing. We need the outside world to help us."

Early in 2011, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi spoke of the importance of the project to the country's economy, outlined in the government's Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP). "In the coming five years there will be a very big irrigation project and related agricultural development in this zone. Even though this area is known as backward in terms of civilisation, it will become an example of rapid development."

Human rights abuses

This "rapid development" has come at a price. There have been almost inevitable human rights abuses inflicted upon those resisting relocation since the Kuraz Sugar Development programme began last June. A report [PDF] by the Oakland Institute, a US-based think-tank, details how Ethiopian Defence Forces "arrive at Omo Valley villages (and in particular Bodi, Mursi and Suri villages) questioning villagers about their perspectives on the sugar plantations. Villagers are expected to voice immediate support, otherwise beatings (including the use of tasers), abuse and general intimidation occurs".

Other allegations of abuse to have leaked out include the rape of male tribesmen, as well as of women and children by Ethiopian soldiers. Dozens of villagers from the region also remain in detention after voicing opposition to the development plans.

Violent clashes between the Ethiopian army and tribes from the region are on the rise. A local human rights worker told me of their fears of an escalation in the crisis to civil war. "Many tribes are saying they will fight back rather than be moved off their traditional lands to make way for these plantations. They are living in fear but feel they have nothing to lose by fighting back."

Roadblocks are now in place in many parts of the Lower Omo Valley, limiting accessibility and ensuring the relocations remain out of the spotlight. Tribal rights NGO Survival International is leading calls for a freeze on plantation building and for a halt to the evictions. They have been campaigning to draw more attention to the deteriorating situation in the region since the Ethiopian government announced plans for the Gib III Dam [PDF] - Africa's tallest, and one that is scheduled for completion later this year.

Officials must expect tribes to fight, rather than be moved off their traditional lands [Dominic Brown/Al Jazeera]

When completed, it threatens to destroy a fragile environment and the livelihoods of the tribes, which are closely linked to the river and its annual flood. Up to 500,000 people - including tribes in neighbouring Kenya - rely on the waters and adjacent lands of the Omo River and Lake Turkana, most of which lies in Kenya. The Karo people, now estimated to number just 1,500 along the eastern banks of the Omo River, face extinction. Already suffering from dwindling fish stocks as a result of the dam, the reduced river levels have also harmed their crop yields.

A 'worrying trend'

Liz Hunter, a campaigner at Survival International spoke of her alarm about the situation facing those in the region. "We are extremely concerned about the leasing of the Omo Valley tribes' land by the Ethiopian government to state and foreign companies. By regulating the flow of the Omo, the dam will enable irrigation of the plantations. So the tribes face a double whammy - loss of the natural flood and therefore their ability to feed themselves through the flood retreat cultivation, and now loss of cattle grazing land to state and foreign companies."

Land grabbing is becoming a worrying trend throughout rural Ethiopia and is not isolated to the Lower Omo Valley region. Human Rights Watch stated in a recent report that the Ethiopian government's "failure to provide food assistance for relocated people has caused endemic hunger and cases of starvation".

More than 70,000 people are estimated to have been forced off their land in the Gambella Region in the west of the country to make way for Saudi Arabian and Chinese-owned rice growing plantations. The Ethiopian government maintains that much of the land they are leasing to foreign investors is unfarmed and unsuitable for smallholder farmers. But Tichafa Makovere, a permaculture and farming expert from Zimbabwe, disputes this stance. "One can never say that land is not in use. Even unfarmed land provides a vital habitat for wildlife. To tamper with it affects ecosystems that we all depend upon for our survival."

The increasing levels of foreign influence are also raising anxiety amongst people in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. "It's a new form of colonialism," one Ethiopian NGO worker told me in a coffee house. "We fear where we will we be in ten years' time, when more and more of our land is controlled by these foreign investors." Anxiety threatens to swell to resentment, with many Chinese and Indian companies operating in the country flying in their own workers, depriving Ethiopians of work, and ultimately leading to huge reserves of money leaving the country.

With thousands facing uncertain futures, never before has sugar left such a sour taste in the mouth.

Dominic Brown is an independent filmmaker, writer and human rights campaigner. His latest documentary is Forgotten Bird of Paradise.

The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial policy.

Sunday, February 05, 2012

Ethiopian Anti-Terrorism Law to Quell Dissent (HRLHA Press Release)

The Human Rights League of the Horn of Africa (HRLHA) strongly denounces the life in prison sentence for blogger and long year in prison sentence for two journalists and two political leaders passed by the Ethiopian Federal High Court on January 19, 2012 and [...]

Sunday, January 15, 2012

"The 'G7' Betrayal at Kelly Inn" (Special report @ Gadaa.com)

"The 'G7' Betrayal at Kelly Inn"

A group of no more than seven individuals (Group-7 or 'G7'), known as the BG Kemal Gelchu's Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), are accused of betraying the Kaayyoo (The Objectives) of the Oromo national liberation struggle at a meeting convened at Kelly Inn in St. Paul, MN, on January 1, 2012. According to media reports, most leaders and members of the previous larger faction, OLF-Change/Jijirama, had broken ranks with Kemal Gelchu's OLF in the weeks and months leading up to the January 1 meeting, as well as during and immediately after the meeting.

This page chronicles the incident, which has become to be known as "The 'G7' Betrayal at Kelly Inn" in some Oromo discussion forums, and its aftermath.

Thursday, January 05, 2012

Press Release:Detention and Mistreatment can never stop our struggleNational Youth Movement of Qeerroo

January 3, 2012

Due to 20 years of continued repression and brutality of the EPRDF government on the Oromo and other nations in Ethiopia, the National Youth Movement of Qeerroo was formed in April 2011 and was trying to air loudly the voice of the Ethiopian people in general and the Oromo people in particular. The last two decades have naked the cheap behavior of the dictator government of Ethiopia that it is not ready for any peaceful dialogue and its inability to listen to the voice of the people.Click here to read the press release

Friday, December 30, 2011

Garoma B. Wakessa - Oromo Person of the Year 2011 (Gadaa.com)

For being the leading voice of the voiceless in the human rights movement in the Horn of Africa, for educating the public about human rights, and for being the unyielding advocate for justice and freedom.

Born in 1958 in the then Wollega Province in western Oromia, Mr. (Obbo) Garoma B. Wakessa's life is a testament for the endurance of the human spirit in the face of atrocities and injustice.

He had been a high school teacher, and had later become a science professional after earning a Master's degree in the U.S.S.R. in 1989. But, soon after his graduation, the rest of his life would change from that of a scientist to that of a newspaper editor-in-chief, and then a human rights advocate.

Monday, December 26, 2011

Ethiopia jails two Swedish journalists for aiding rebels

By Aaron Maasho

ADDIS ABABA | Tue Dec 27, 2011 5:22am EST

(Reuters) - An Ethiopian court sentenced two Swedish journalists Tuesday to 11 years in prison for helping and promoting the outlawed Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) rebel group and entering the country illegally.

Last week's guilty verdicts had provoked anger in Swedish media and accusations the case had taken on a political dimension.

Reporter Martin Schibbye and photographer Johan Persson were arrested in July after they entered the Ogaden province from Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland region with ONLF fighters.

"The court has sentenced both defendants to 11 years. We have heard both cases ... and we believe this is an appropriate sentence," Judge Shemsu Sirgaga told the court.

Shemsu said the convictions warranted a sentence of up to 14 and a half years, but noted the freelance journalists' good behavior. The prosecution had asked for 18 and a half years.

"It wasn't an entirely unexpected sentence. It is regrettable in light of their journalistic assignment," Swedish Foreign Ministry spokesman Anders Jorle said. "The Swedish government's view is known, among other things through the prime minister's statement last week."

Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said last week Sweden was seriously concerned about the judgment and the journalists should be freed as soon as possible.

The two Swedes had also been charged with terrorism but were acquitted in November on that count, as the court did not believe they were involved in carrying out any attacks. They did admit to crossing the border without a permit.

Schibbye and Persson both looked at the judge without expression as the sentence was read out and then translated by their lawyer. No family members were present.

One of the journalists' lawyers said his clients were weighing the option of an appeal, but that for now there was no talk of pleading for clemency.

"We are only talking about the possibility of appealing for the time being, which follows judicial procedure," defense lawyer Sileshi Ketsela told Reuters.

STRAINED RELATIONS

Schibbye and Petersson's Swedish lawyer told Sweden's SVT television channel that the pair were innocent reporters doing their job in a "closed area" and denounced the sentence as "completely unacceptable."

"This is judgment that represents a threat against foreign correspondents, against journalists who are trying to do their job," Thomas Olsson told the public channel in the Swedish capital, Stockholm.

This year, Ethiopia has detained more than 150 people, including reporters, in a crackdown the opposition says is designed to stifle moves toward more democracy. The government vehemently denies such accusations.

Diplomatic relations between Ethiopia and Sweden have become increasingly strained in the last couple of years, analysts say.

Ethiopia's opposition leader Birtukan Mideska, who was convicted of treason after violence broke out following a presidential poll in 2005 and then pardoned, was thrown back in prison in 2008 after flying to Stockholm and publicly disputing Addis Ababa's version of the pardon.

Birtukan was released in 2010, four months after presidential elections, and is now in the United States.

"The authorities in Addis Ababa seemed to have been rankled with the perceived backing of Ethiopia's opposition by Stockholm," A Western diplomat, who declined to be named, said.

Sweden has also been critical of Ethiopia's human rights track record. Addis Ababa said in 2010 it planned to shut its mission in Stockholm as there was no significant development cooperation or trade ties between the two countries.

A spokesman for Ethiopia's justice ministry said claims the trial had been politicized were unfounded.

"How can there be a political motive when prosecutors provided evidence throughout the trial and the defendants themselves admitted to entering the country illegally with rebels?" spokesman Desalegn Deressa told Reuters.

Ethiopia jails two Swedish journalists for aiding rebels

By Aaron Maasho

ADDIS ABABA | Tue Dec 27, 2011 5:22am EST

(Reuters) - An Ethiopian court sentenced two Swedish journalists Tuesday to 11 years in prison for helping and promoting the outlawed Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) rebel group and entering the country illegally.

Last week's guilty verdicts had provoked anger in Swedish media and accusations the case had taken on a political dimension.

Reporter Martin Schibbye and photographer Johan Persson were arrested in July after they entered the Ogaden province from Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland region with ONLF fighters.

"The court has sentenced both defendants to 11 years. We have heard both cases ... and we believe this is an appropriate sentence," Judge Shemsu Sirgaga told the court.

Shemsu said the convictions warranted a sentence of up to 14 and a half years, but noted the freelance journalists' good behavior. The prosecution had asked for 18 and a half years.

"It wasn't an entirely unexpected sentence. It is regrettable in light of their journalistic assignment," Swedish Foreign Ministry spokesman Anders Jorle said. "The Swedish government's view is known, among other things through the prime minister's statement last week."

Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said last week Sweden was seriously concerned about the judgment and the journalists should be freed as soon as possible.

The two Swedes had also been charged with terrorism but were acquitted in November on that count, as the court did not believe they were involved in carrying out any attacks. They did admit to crossing the border without a permit.

Schibbye and Persson both looked at the judge without expression as the sentence was read out and then translated by their lawyer. No family members were present.

One of the journalists' lawyers said his clients were weighing the option of an appeal, but that for now there was no talk of pleading for clemency.

"We are only talking about the possibility of appealing for the time being, which follows judicial procedure," defense lawyer Sileshi Ketsela told Reuters.

STRAINED RELATIONS

Schibbye and Petersson's Swedish lawyer told Sweden's SVT television channel that the pair were innocent reporters doing their job in a "closed area" and denounced the sentence as "completely unacceptable."

"This is judgment that represents a threat against foreign correspondents, against journalists who are trying to do their job," Thomas Olsson told the public channel in the Swedish capital, Stockholm.

This year, Ethiopia has detained more than 150 people, including reporters, in a crackdown the opposition says is designed to stifle moves toward more democracy. The government vehemently denies such accusations.

Diplomatic relations between Ethiopia and Sweden have become increasingly strained in the last couple of years, analysts say.

Ethiopia's opposition leader Birtukan Mideska, who was convicted of treason after violence broke out following a presidential poll in 2005 and then pardoned, was thrown back in prison in 2008 after flying to Stockholm and publicly disputing Addis Ababa's version of the pardon.

Birtukan was released in 2010, four months after presidential elections, and is now in the United States.

"The authorities in Addis Ababa seemed to have been rankled with the perceived backing of Ethiopia's opposition by Stockholm," A Western diplomat, who declined to be named, said.

Sweden has also been critical of Ethiopia's human rights track record. Addis Ababa said in 2010 it planned to shut its mission in Stockholm as there was no significant development cooperation or trade ties between the two countries.

A spokesman for Ethiopia's justice ministry said claims the trial had been politicized were unfounded.

"How can there be a political motive when prosecutors provided evidence throughout the trial and the defendants themselves admitted to entering the country illegally with rebels?" spokesman Desalegn Deressa told Reuters.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Frankincense threatened by conditions in Ethiopia (USA Today)

Frankincense threatened by conditions in Ethiopia

By Elizabeth Weise, USA TODAY

The world may still have gold and myrrh, but it's quite possible that frankincense could become a thing of the past, given ecological pressures on the arid lands where it grows in Ethiopia.

The storied resin, known to millions as one of the three gifts of the Magi, the wise men who visited Jesus after his birth, is made from gum produced by the boswellia papyrifera tree. Its "bitter perfume" is used as incense in religious rituals in many cultures, as well as an ingredient in perfume and Chinese traditional medicine.

Dutch and Ethiopian researchers studying populations of the scraggly, scrub-like trees in northern Ethiopia found that as many as 7% of the trees are dying each year, and seedlings are not surviving into saplings.

Their paper in today's edition of the Journal of Applied Ecology finds that the Ethiopian trees that produce much of the world's frankincense are declining so dramatically that production could be halved over the next 15 years and the trees themselves could decline by 90% in the next 50 years

Ethiopian family reunited after 10 years apart

Posted: Dec 15, 2011 1:06 PM NT

Last Updated: Dec 15, 2011 12:58 PM NT

Video Content

After 10 years apart, Wakwaya Seda was finally reunited with his wife and son Wednesday.

Seda and his family are from Ethiopia. The father was with a group of political refugees who fled to Canada.

Seda and his friends are Oromo, an oppressed ethnic group in Ethiopia. They spent seven years in asylum in Kenya before immigrating to Canada. It took another three years for his family to make the journey.

Last week, Seda got his own apartment in St. John's. He wanted to have a home waiting for his wife and son, who arrived at St. John's International Airport on Wednesday.

But for his friends, the wait continues.

Their families are still in Ethiopia, working their way through the lengthy immigration process.

The Rarely Implemented Commitments (63 Years with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

Today, we are celebrating the 63rd anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We have learnt from history that the evolution of the essence of human rights stretches back more than 2500 years, when men and women fought and died for basic human freedoms. Beginning from those days, the idea of human rights was perceived differently by different nations; until it was recognized as a universal notion of"International Human Rights", which belongs to all human beings by the virtue of being born as humans.

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